Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to call a bunch of friends, get some beer, and just play hide and seek? Why do we stop doing this when we become adults? I could definitely get in on a good game of hide and seek.

Knowing (albeit limited) MA at the bar is nice, but I stick with the buddy rule anyways, 4 drunk guys will generally kick the crap out of your 1 drunk self even with MA. Knowing MA outside the bar is nice too because even here you can't just whip out a Glock because someone starts some ****. Ass hats lurk everywhere and can cross your path where you least expect.

We do have drunk adult hide and seek on occasion, we just usually call it paint ball. Nothing says fun like a few good friends and running through the wilderness creating mildly painful, non injuring memories to laugh at each other about over the bon fire. And what grown man doesn't secretly want a legitimate excuse to build a suit of armor from cardboard and duct tape?

OP, out of curiosity: How many fights in public places have you witnessed? How many shootings and stabbings have you seen in public places? For me, it's about 6 fights and no weapons in view. Not every person who gets pissed off and wants to hurt somebody is going to commit murder.

Hi Zaqhu,
Well in Manchester I was robbed at gun and knife point and during the nineties things were real bad with someone getting stabbed/attacked in my sphere of aquaintances every week.
London is now famous for stabbings and people film it on their mobiles and put it on you tube to show off to their "mates" (happy slapping etc). I was almost attacked last year by a psychotic thai taxi driver arguing over 100 baht - I reckon I could have got the crow bar out of his hand but luckily I managed to talk him down (by pleading for calm ).
I am currently living in Argentina where people often make their way out of the villas (slums) drugged to the eyeballs to relieve the general populace of their valuables - they usually carry guns or knives. Most situations where there is a robbery or a mugging (from the dozens of times friends or friends of friends have reported being mugged) there has been a weapon involved or the threat of a weapon in the UK,Thailand,Spain and Argentina. I was once attacked by a guy who had his hand under his coat saying he had a gun - I would say its not worth the risk - he may be bluffing he may not. In this case I took the risk and he got nothing - but looking back on it it was a foolish risk - its not worth risking your life for a buss pass and 10 quid.
I saw a bar fight in spain where the whole room erupted into such rapid and ferocious violence that my friends just stood and stared as if paralysed , however my martial arts skills enabled me to move faster than light to the other side of the room and hide behind a table. Every object in the area became a weapon, chairs glass ahtrays etc
The only fights I've heard of where there are no weapons are bar fights, schoolyard fights or people messing around on the streets. Come to think of it in Manchester the schoolkids sometimes carried knives too. If I was mugged tommorrow I may go as far as asking if the assailant was carrying a weapon - if he had no weapon then I would not give him anything.You can avoid barfights generally by not going to bars where its likely to kick off . I think on this forum there was a post to an unfortunate MMA gentlemen who was shot dead trying to stop a robbery.
I'm not saying martial arts are useless for self defense - I am saying the chances of having to use them in a violent situation are so slim (unless you work as a doorman in a nightclub or some other job that brings you in contact with dickheads) that doing martial arts for self defense as a primary objective doesnt make sense. Even the military won't really train hand to hand combat that much - because they use guns .
For those who think weapons are hardly ever used in muggings - you are lucky to live where you are - would I need a visa for Narnia ?
Bottom line is you never know if someones carrying a weapon and generally its not worth the risk to find out - just to prove you're a big man ?